New look!

'Tis that time of year again! I can't hardly believe that Thanksgiving is already gone & Christmas is under a month away! Where does the time go?! It seems like just yesterday that we were bringing Gabby home from the hospital, scared out of my mind at the prospect of parenting such a tiny, helpless baby. If I had only known then what I know now, I think I would have told myself to just relax & enjoy the little moments with Gabby:0)

Even though I'm changing my layout to Christmas, I don't have any pictures of snow to share... yet;0) I'm anticipating it, though! Crazy I know, but if its going to be cold at least I have the pretty white stuff to look at!

As we were putting the Christmas tree up this evening, I had a funny thought. No tubes. It was funny looking back to last year when we decorated the house. I had to dance around 50 ft. of oxygen tubing, but not this year! No tubes of any kind are found in this house. Vaeh & Gabby were too funny with the whole experience. Gabby was so antsy to get her hands on an ornament to put on the tree. I though I was going to have to tie her up at one point (LoL)! Vaeh didn't really seem all that excited to put the ornaments on the tree, but she was all to willing to help put the boxes & such away! Now the fun will begin keeping Vaeh away from the ornaments, etc., that I have out... her & the little guy that I babysit for now (he's 2). Should keep me on my toes!

Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday this past week. I know we had a good day on Thursday. We revived an old tradition from my childhood - making paper chains. All of the kids in the family when I was younger used to work on making these paper chains with strips of construction paper that my Mom had cut for us. We used to have a ball! At my Grandparents' house, the living room was nearly 30 feet long. So we used to have a competition to see who could make the longest chain. Then we'd end up combining them all & having a chain that was well over 60 feet long! The kids on Thursday were able to compete with some of our best work from back in the day! It was fun to see the kids enjoying something that I have fond memories of from my childhood. Being the bad blogging-Momma that I am, I forgot to take the camera & get any pics of it:0/ I'll try to do better next time! Maybe a re-enactment is in order?!

A note of thanks from us... my Uncle's Mom is holding her own. They were able to do a biopsy over a week ago, & all of the test results have come back negative at this point. Which is good & bad. She is still having some difficulties & they haven't come up with a diagnosis. So, thanks for the prayers!

A belated Happy Thanksgiving to you all! Know that we have many blessings & we count each of our blogging friends as some of those many blessings!

Catching up...

Okay, first off I'm sooooo mad at either 1.) my computer, or 2.) blogger. It (not sure which one) won't let me upload any photos or videos... UGH!!!!!!!!!! It all seemed to start around the time that we got our new laptop. I can't figure it out & its starting to make me very upset. I've wanted to show you all Miss Vaeh's orthotics & she does this new thing that I was wanting to show... Oh well, maybe I'll figure it out here soon!

This past Monday, we had our now quarterly (every 3 months) date with Dr. Butto. I had to laugh at Vaeh on Monday morning. She asked where we were going, & when I told her to see Dr. Butto... she jumped, laughed & said "yay!" Not sure if anyone remembers (or if I ever told...) but back in the beginning, Vaeh would SCREAM through her appointments with him! It became quite a production just getting an EKG. Especially if doc walking in the room, she would turn it into high gear! So at this appointment when Dr. Butto walked in & Miss V smiled... lets just say Dr. Butto got quite a kick out of that! I think he may have to come up with a new nickname for her. "Little troublemaker" isn't very fitting anymore!

Vaeh just keeps growing! She was 36.5 inches tall & weighs a whopping 31lbs!! Hard to believe she's gained a quarter inch & a pound in a little over a week! (gotta love the difference in scales & person measuring;0) Her sats were perfect - 100% & her blood pressure was super! I was really suprised to see how high her blood pressure was -something like 101/68. I say "hi" because since we had increased her to the correct dose of revatio, she's been running in the 80's/50's! She sat almost perfectly still for her EKG, & of course had to "help" with her echo - they always tell us that they've never seen anyone who likes to play with the gel like her!

Overall Vaeh is doing really well! The only thing that was the slightest glitch in the appointment was that her RV pressures didn't change. It doesn't mean anything bad, but it means we still have to give her the revatio. But it also means things are stable. Meaning no "interventions" any time soon. Translation = we're going to make it an entire year without any surgical procedures!!! YAY!!!!!! Its amazing to think that we've made it that long! The longest she'd ever gone prior to this was between 6 & 8 months, but a WHOLE YEAR?!?!?!?!!!!! I have to admit, though, I'm getting kinda bored - LoL!! (just kidding;0)

A quick thank you for all the prayers for my Aunt & Uncle's family. His mom continues to hold her own. She had a biopsy last week, & they haven't gotten the results yet. Again, thanks for the prayers.

Well, its time I get moving! Lots to do to get ready for Thanksgiving! Its the beginning of my favorite time of year! Can't wait for all the smells in the kitchen tomorrow. Oh, & there's some changes I need to make on here.... Happy Thanksgiving, Everyone!!

Saving Little Hearts 2010 Calendar

They've finally come out with the SLH calendar for 2010. If you remember, I posted about it a while back, here. I had sent one of Miss Vaeh's photos from the Littlest Heroes Project shoot that we had for her. I finally saw a draft of the finished product. Vaeh was placed in January. If I read correctly, they had more than enough photos to complete the calendar. So many, in fact, that they made it a 15 month calendar! Here's a look at January's page...

If you look closely, you'll see Miss V in the bottom row, 4th in from the right! Isn't she just beautiful?! (yes, that was a VERY biased statement;0) You can go to the Saving Little Hearts site to order your calendar! I think there may even be a place to find where you can submit photos for next year's calendar.

I'm so sorry that I've been dormant here lately. I've been kinda upset with blogger, or my computer (not exactly sure which one). I haven't been able to upload any photos... ugh! But for some reason, something told me to try this morning & it worked! WooHoo! So, to back track a bit, someone asked about pics of Miss V's orthotics. Blogger still isn't letting me upload some photos & I'm not sure why. I'll keep trying to get it to cooperate with me!

In other news, Vaeh had a check up last week & here's her newest stats: she weighs in at a whopping 30.5lbs & is 36.25 inches tall!! I never thought that my little peanut would break the 30lb. mark, but yet again she has amazed me! She's doing really well in school & is making great progress with her orthotics. The therapist did tell me that they may be evaluating her for OT again, as she seems to be lacking in some (very) fine motor skills (ie: threading small beads onto a string). I say if it will help her, bring it on! She's still having trouble with drawing circles, copying things that someone else has drawn, but is still doing well & loving school!

One last little note for this post. If you all would remember my Aunt & Uncle, & their family in your prayers. My Aunt's Mother-in-law was taken to the hospital a couple of weeks ago & is still in the hospital. She's now at a larger facility where they're still trying to decide if she has a tumor or fungal infection in her brain. Its been very stressful on the family & they could use your prayers... & I know there's some great prayer warriors floating around blogger-land! Hope everyone else is doing well!

"Tickle my feet!"

That's how Vaeh described having her feet casted & then the inserts applied. She was casted about 2 weeks ago for orthotics. I'd been wondering for a while if/when she would need these. She has always had a very flat arch which she gets from her Daddy! Mommy has the exact opposite, having VERY high arches (which can be just as bad, if not worse).

We didn't really worry about it last year & over the summer. Partly because she was just learing to walk & because the therapist that was working with her really didn't seem to care (lets not get started on THAT subject!). So when she started school/therapy this fall (with therapist that I trust completely!!!) we talked about her getting them to help with he walking/running/jumping.


This morning was her appointment to pick them up. She was so excited to go in - I think she remembered being there & having her feet casted. He put them on her to get a quick fit to know where to trim them & then put them in her shoes. She did really well with them when she first stood up & has seemed as if they aren't bothering her a bit! She has some red spots after wearing them, but overall she hasn't complained once!! I think there may be an adjustment in her future, though.

Hopefully everyone is having a good weekend (even though its nearly over:0( ) & that everyone is staying healthy! We're doing okay here, but unfortunately there were confirmed cases of H1N1 in our county this past week... so needless to say, I'm on alert! Here's to a fun, healthy week!

Potty training!!

Yep. Vaeh continues to become more "normal" each day. This past week, we started potty training... finally!

This was kinda new territory for me. With Gabby, she was potty trained by a friend of mine (Thanks, Angel!) when we were in Ann Arbor for Vaeh's 2nd open heart. Gabby was trained late, too, in part because of the chaos that was our life back then. Meds every two hours from 6AM to midnight, no sleep, you get the picture. So it was Angel who had the know how & the patience to work with her.

Miss Vaeh has been telling me for a few months now "I peed, Mommy," after she wet in her diaper. I had dabbled with attempting to train her, but each time I gave her her lasix it ruined any progress that we had made. So when we finally got rid of the lasix back at the end of August, I wanted to give her some time to adjust. She had been doing pretty well the week before last in pull ups, so I decided to just go ahead & put her in panties. And it worked... fairly well. She went all week last week with only 2 accidents!! She did so well that we even had her in panties for church on Sunday!! She made it the whole day!! She's just so darn cute. We have to do the "dance" after we go, & Miss Vaeh is in charge of flusing;0) - she likes to say "bye-bye, tinkle!"

Last week went great... today, not so well:0/ She is still wearing panties, but today we've had a couple of accidents. I did put her in a pull up for school today, just so that they wouldn't have to worry about it. I think next week, though, we'll go for the gusto. Her main issue is probably the same one that plagues most kids when potty training... the dreaded "#2." That's where most of her accidents come in, so if anyone has any tips please feel free to drop them in a comment! I'm just so proud of her!

Hope everyone else is staying healthy, or getting back to being healthy!! Thanks again for checking in on us!

Still here...

Yep. We didn't go anywhere... other than to the peds twice, but that was over a week ago. Boy, am I a slacker (as my husband so lovingly pointed out last night;0)! Let me just reassure you that the girls are both finally on the up & up. Here's how things went:

The last time I posted, I re-introduced everyone to our old trusty friend. "He's" still just hanging around, but not needed nearly as much now. We're going to keep "him" on standby throughout the winter, though:0) The following Monday after I posted of "his" return, I ended up taking Vaeh in to see the doc. It wasn't her regular ped, but I settled for seeing someone different that visit as the girls were both scheduled to see their regular gal that Friday. Basically on Monday they told us that Vaeh had 'viral bronchitis' & to keep using our friend. She had had a fever (which is why we went to see them) but it hadn't returned that day. Doc told me that if it did pop back up & stick around to call & he'd order a CXR.

She did really well, until Friday when they both were scheduled for well child exams. Gabby is a whopping 42 lbs & 48 inches tall! Miss Vaeh has dropped just a bit & is now just over 28 lbs, but is up to 38 inches!! She's such a tall thing anymore!! Of course Vaeh would have a low-grade fever... ugh. So, still no flu-shot for her this season. Silly girl, she hasn't ever had one! Every time we'd go to get one, she would be running a slight temp which means... no shot. Maybe she'll get one this year, although I'm not sure how things will pan out;0)

During that appointment I decided to have Gabby get the flu mist. You know, the one where they spray it up your nose vs. sticking you in the arm. Thankfully Gabby wasn't too resistant to that option & did quite well when they gave it to her. However, come Sunday Miss Gabby decided to run a fever, have a headache & be nauseous all day... ugh. Which went into the night & next morning, so Gabby missed a day of school. Come Tuesday morning she was ready to return - I think that had something to do with them roller skating in gym class;0)

So, we're finally all healthy again in the house. Which is why I'm sitting at home on the computer on Sunday morning instead of a church. There's been a virus running through quite a few families at church & I didn't want to expose the girls since they're just beginning to return to normal! That, & Daddy didn't get home until about 8:30 last night & this way we can spend some time with him - he has to leave later tonight:0/

So we're all just hanging around for today, spending some time together as a family. Hope everyone else is doing well & staying healthy!

An old friend :0/

We've had an old friend stop in for a visit the past couple of days... I'm not really all that excited about it either. Let me introduce you all, again...

That's right. Our friendly (ugh) neighborhood nebulizer has returned from hibernation for the summer. This picture is from back in April because I don't have any current ones... its been that long since we've used it! I was hoping we'd get through at least October before having any sniffles here. Its been so long that I've almost forgotten what it is to hear the humming of that machine.

Miss Vaeh started in nearly a week ago with a simple runny nose. It wasn't anything big because everyone else had one, too... darn pollen:0/ So, yesterday she started in with the coughing & we broke the nebulizer out right away! Luckily we still had some pulmicort & xopenex left over from her last round that hadn't expired yet.

So this morning Miss V woke with a lovely "rattle-y" (is that even a word? It is now if you speak "Tina" - LoL) sound in her chest. After a treatment with her nebs, & a few good coughs, she sounds much better. Although there is still a lingering hoarseness to her voice. I may be calling the pediatrician later... still havent' decided yet.

In other news, we had a not -quite-so-fun weekend last weekend. We went to my cousin's house for her daughter's 1st birthday party. On the way home, Jon wanted to stop by & check something in his truck. What he found (or didn't find) was quite a shock... someone broke into his semi & stole his TV, Playstation, CB radio, flashlight & a bunch of CD's & DVD's, amongst other things. He also has a fairly good sized refrigerator in there & they tried to take it but didn't succeed thankfully! So, Jon called the local police department & they came out, wrote a report & dusted for fingerprints. Which meant in addition to all the lovely shards of glass that were in the truck, now there was a lovely layer of black fingerprint dust. He was very impressed with how quickly the police responded & that they actually took prints, but hopes aren't too high on recovering anything. Oh, the other thing is that the company's insurance won't cover any of his stuff. "It's all stuff that can be taken home every weekend when not in the truck." Can you believe that?!?! Oh well, we'll just have to make due I guess!

We're hoping this weekend doesn't bring any unwanted surprises like last weekend did! Hope everyone else is staying healthy & has a wonderful weekend!

Miss Moriah :0)

Meet Moriah & her parents, Justin & Victoria. Miss Moriah is a fellow heart friend (ToFw/PA,MAPCA's) as well as having been diagnosed with CHARGE syndrome & multiple other problems. She has endured 2 open hearts, 5 caths, & a tracheotomy, among many other surgeries. This precious little girl & her family have spent nearly 11 months in the hospital.

Currently Moriah is waiting to be transferred back to Stanford from CHLA, as she is having continued issues with bleeding and infections. She has endured so much over those long months spent in the hospital, as have her parents. Please join me in praying for this beautiful little girl & her family!

Happy Birthday, Miss Vaeh!!

Its hard to believe that it was exactly 3 years ago that we were in the hospital waiting to welcome the newest member of our family...

(isn't she beautiful?!)

It was unimaginable that we would end up in the NICU/PICU for the first three weeks, & many more to follow, going through helicopter rides, surgeries, crises, & nearly loosing her twice. But we did. Its been a long 3 years, but I wouldn't change them for anything. Because if I did, I wouldn't have this beautiful little girl that you see now...

I cannot begin to imagine my life without this precious little girl in it (or her big sister;0). And because of her, we now have added such a wonderful extended "family" through this journey we've been on. There are so many of you who have helped us get through these past 3 years & I hate to think of where we'd be without each & every one of you. So from the bottom of our hearts, thank you for joining us. We love you all!! Happy Birthday, Baby Girl!!